Bessie Leach Priddy

Elizabeth "Bessie" Leach Priddy (January 18, 1871 – May 27, 1935) was an American educator, social reformer, clubwoman, and leader of the Delta Delta Delta women's fraternity.

Early life Priddy was born on January 18, 1871 in Belvidere, Illinois. She attended the Belvidere High School, graduating in 1887.

After she graduated from Adrian College in 1891, Priddy was employed for two years as a school principal in Capron, Illinois. The article was highly praised by G. Stanley Hall, president of Clark University, who called it "the best article he had seen on the subject in English."

Priddy was promoted to dean of women at Michigan State Normal College in 1918. Whilst in post, she and the University president Charles McKenney took disciplinary action against female students found smoking, with seventeen expelled. When one of the expelled students, Alice Tanton, sued the college, Priddy claimed that she had "no choice but to send Miss Tanton home" and that "she had repeated warnings." The expulsion was upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court and Priddy was praised for "maintaining certain ideals" and "upholding some of the old-fashioned ideals of young womanhood."

In 1921, the Michigan State Normal College senior class dedicated its yearbook to Priddy, with the inscription: "To Bessie Leach Priddy, Dean of Women and Mother to us all, this volume is lovingly dedicated." The Normal College News reported that "she has endeared herself to the girls of the college and has proved an efficient and wise administrator." In 1922, she gave a talk at the local YMCA on "What a College Man Can Do."

The Bessie Leach Priddy Scholarship Fund was launched in her honour in 1923, when she moved on to her next employer. Priddy was appointed the dean of women at the University of Missouri, in 1923. While in post, she expelled eleven students, including four female students, for drinking liquor. In 1919, she was amongst the compilers of the Handbook for Women Voters of Michigan, described as "a practical guide in citizenship."

Priddy remained active in Delta Delta Delta. During her tenure as their national historian, she wrote A Detailed Record of Delta Delta Delta, 1888–1907, which was the first such publication by any women's organization. She was awarded an honorary masters degree in education from Michigan State Normal College in 1935, which was granted posthumously.